INSIDER
AP Decision Notes: What to expect in Idaho's state primary and Democratic presidential caucus
Read full article: AP Decision Notes: What to expect in Idaho's state primary and Democratic presidential caucusIdaho voters are heading to the polls to decide primaries for the U.S. House and the state legislature.
US Senate Majority Leader Schumer meets Xi and welcomes stronger Chinese statement on Hamas attack
Read full article: US Senate Majority Leader Schumer meets Xi and welcomes stronger Chinese statement on Hamas attackU.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer says he is grateful for a stronger statement from China condemning the deadly Hamas attack on Israel issued during his visit to Beijing that included a lengthy meeting with President Xi Jinping.
US Senate leader raises trade and fentanyl at start of 1st congressional visit to China since 2019
Read full article: US Senate leader raises trade and fentanyl at start of 1st congressional visit to China since 2019A senior American lawmaker says the U.S. does not want to cut economic ties with the world’s second-largest economy but seeks a level playing field so that American companies can compete freely.
Schumer to lead a bipartisan delegation of senators to China, South Korea and Japan next week
Read full article: Schumer to lead a bipartisan delegation of senators to China, South Korea and Japan next weekSenate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is leading a bipartisan congressional delegation to China next week, traveling to the country amid heightened tensions and after several members of President Joe Biden’s Cabinet visited.
US senators seek expanded compensation for those exposed to nuclear fallout
Read full article: US senators seek expanded compensation for those exposed to nuclear falloutU.S. senators from New Mexico and Idaho are making another push to expand the federal government’s compensation program for people exposed to radiation from uranium mining and nuclear testing carried out during the Cold War.
GOP targets for Dem bill: Inflation, taxes, Manchin, Sinema
Read full article: GOP targets for Dem bill: Inflation, taxes, Manchin, SinemaRepublicans see inflation, taxes and immigration as Democratic weak spots worth attacking in the upcoming battle over an economic package the Democrats want to push through the Senate.
Treasury Secretary Yellen expects inflation to 'remain high'
Read full article: Treasury Secretary Yellen expects inflation to 'remain high'Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has acknowledged that she and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell “could have used a better word” than transitory when describing the expected run of inflation in the U.S. economy.
Yellen's global tax plan meets resistance abroad and at home
Read full article: Yellen's global tax plan meets resistance abroad and at homeLast July, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen celebrated it as a “historic day” when more than 100 nations agreed to a global minimum tax deal meant to reform and equalize the world’s economy.
Midterm updates | Idaho attorney general loses GOP primary
Read full article: Midterm updates | Idaho attorney general loses GOP primaryFormer U.S. Rep. Raul Labrador has won Idaho’s Republican attorney general primary, beating a longtime incumbent who'd been criticized by the far right for not taking a more activist role.
New push on to expand nuclear radiation compensation in US
Read full article: New push on to expand nuclear radiation compensation in USA bipartisan group of lawmakers is renewing a push to expand a U.S. compensation program for people who were exposed to radiation following uranium mining and nuclear testing carried out during the Cold War.
Leak of billionaires' tax data draws GOP outcry over privacy
Read full article: Leak of billionaires' tax data draws GOP outcry over privacyRepublicans in Congress are alarmed by the leak of confidential IRS data to ProPublica that has enabled the investigative news organization to reveal that famous billionaires including Warren Buffett, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg paid little in U.S. income tax at times.
Biden, GOP senators upbeat, plan more infrastructure talks
Read full article: Biden, GOP senators upbeat, plan more infrastructure talksAfter meeting at the White House, President Joe Biden and a group of Republican senators have agreed to talk again early next week as negotiations on an infrastructure plan are intensifying.
Powell defends Fed's consideration of climate change risks
Read full article: Powell defends Fed's consideration of climate change risksFederal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday defended the central bank’s increasing scrutiny of the impact climate change could have on banks, in the wake of criticism by Republican members of Congress that by doing so the Fed is overstepping its mandate.
Lawmakers: Require nursing homes to disclose vaccine data
Read full article: Lawmakers: Require nursing homes to disclose vaccine dataNursing homes have to publicly disclose their vaccination rates for flu and pneumonia, but theres no similar mandate for COVID-19 shots. Nursing homes have been required since last May to regularly report cases and deaths among residents and staff to the government. Nursing homes are again allowing loved ones to visit, and hugs are included. The main nursing home industry trade group, the American Health Care Association, says it supports disclosure of vaccination data. Wyden and Crapo said current government policy that encourages nursing homes to voluntarily report vaccination data to the government has only led to “limited participation by the industry.”The government should require nursing homes to break down vaccination data by race and ethnicity, given disparities in vaccine acceptance.
Biden getting 1st shot at making mark on federal judiciary
Read full article: Biden getting 1st shot at making mark on federal judiciaryFILE - In this Nov. 2, 2020, file photo the Supreme Court is seen at sundown in Washington. Barring an improbable expansion of the Supreme Court, Biden won’t be able to do anything about the high court’s entrenched conservative majority any time soon. That’s because Republicans who controlled the Senate in the final two years of the Obama White House confirmed relatively few judges. Biden already has pledged to name a Black woman to the Supreme Court if a seat opens up. But some Republicans and conservative groups are wary about what Democrats might try to do now that they control Congress and the White House.
Yellen's encore: Lending economic heft to Biden's virus plan
Read full article: Yellen's encore: Lending economic heft to Biden's virus plan“Yellen is uniquely poised," said Brian Deese, director of Biden’s National Economic Council. "She has as much experience and expertise of addressing the challenges of our time as any living economic policymaker today. AdYellen juggled parenting with her work as a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, in the 1980s, helping to build her son’s pinewood derby car as a colleague fed economic data into a computer. It’s an argument cultivated from years of research that fully blossomed during Yellen’s time as Fed chair. She said Yellen values differences of opinion and diversity because that helps her get a fuller sense of the economy.
Mnuchin denies trying to hinder incoming administration
Read full article: Mnuchin denies trying to hinder incoming administrationMnuchin on Friday, Nov. 20 denied that he is trying to limit the choices President-elect Joe Biden will have to promote an economic recovery by ending several emergency loan programs being run by the Federal Reserve. Mnuchin said his decision was based on the fact that the programs were not being heavily utilized. “We're not trying to hinder anything,” Mnuchin said in a CNBC interview. Private economists argued that Mnuchin's decision to end five of the emergency loan facilities represents an economic risk. In his letter to Powell, Mnuchin said that he is requesting that the Fed return to Treasury the unused funds appropriated by Congress.
Virus spreads on panel handling Supreme Court nomination
Read full article: Virus spreads on panel handling Supreme Court nominationLee, who did not wear a mask at the White House event, said he had “symptoms consistent with longtime allergies." "We now have two members of the Senate Judiciary Committee who have tested positive for COVID, and there may be more," tweeted Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer. Blackburn said she tested negative after the event. Graham was not at the White House on Saturday but sees Trump frequently. He feels healthy, hasn’t exhibited any COVID-19 symptoms, and has tested negative.
Too risky? Fed pressed to expand aid to some businesses
Read full article: Too risky? Fed pressed to expand aid to some businessesLawmakers are pressing the central bank to deliver more aid to struggling small and mid-sized businesses. And now many lawmakers are asking the Fed to expand its lending to small and medium-sized businesses, by allowing companies to offer assets such as commercial properties as collateral. The decision is on the doorstep of Fed Chairman Jay Powell and Steven Mnuchin, the Trump administrations treasury secretary. Its risky because it can be hard for the Fed to accurately appraise assets right now, he told The Associated Press. If it makes riskier loans, the Fed may be seen as propping up teetering zombie businesses that could default on payments.
Senate panel now likely to back questionable Trump Fed pick
Read full article: Senate panel now likely to back questionable Trump Fed pickThe committee's support would move Shelton's nomination to the full Senate, which would have until the end of the year to confirm or reject it. Late Monday, Sen. John Kennedy, Republican of Louisiana, said he would support Shelton's nomination, essentially guaranteeing that she would win the votes of all 13 GOP senators on the committee. Toomey said he would support Shelton after she had reassured him that she would not seek to lower the value of the dollar. Since Shelton's hearing in February, the coronavirus pandemic has plunged the U.S. economy into its worst downturn since the Depression. In addition to Shelton, Trump has nominated Christopher Waller, research director at the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank, for a second vacancy on the seven-member Fed board.
Bitcoin falls over 11%, tumbling below $10,000 after Libra hearing
Read full article: Bitcoin falls over 11%, tumbling below $10,000 after Libra hearingCopyright 2019 CNN(CNN) - Bitcoin investors are concerned that lawmakers' pressure on Facebook's Libra could ripple throughout the cryptocurrency market. The price of Bitcoin had fallen more than 11%, to around $9,590, by the end of a Senate Banking Committee hearing on Libra Tuesday morning. Now, lawmakers in the United States are calling for increased or clarified regulations for the cryptocurrency market as a whole. "That's going to help the United States compete in the blockchain sector." Bitcoin's price may continue to falter this week as Libra faces another hearing before the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday.